Machine for packing block-like articles such as cigarette blocks



Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,209,514

MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 I nvenlor Attorney Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,209,514

MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 6, 1963 I nventor AQT 421mm 4 114 MW 5 M Attorney 5, 9 I A. SCHMERMUND v 3,209,514

MACHINE FOR BACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 A ftorney Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,209,514

MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE: ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor ffimem a m BYM%W Attorney Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,209,514

MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1965 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 I nuenlor ,4, r mar/M WZ Byy gieg M Attorney Oct. 5, 1965 A. SCHMERMUND 3,209,514 MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Filed Sept. 6, 1963 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Bym A Home y United States Patent 3,209,514 MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS CIGARETTE BLOCKS Alfred Schmermund, 62 Kornerstrasse, Gevelsberg, Westphalia, Germany Filed Sept. 6, 1963, Ser. 'No. 307,074 11 Claims. (Cl. 53230) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application serial No. 110,393, filed May 16, 1961.

The invention relates to machines for packing blocklike articles such as blocks of cigarettes.

It has been proposed to pack cigarettes blocks or the like on machines in which pushing dogs fixed to an endless feeding arrangement push the blocks against wrapping material introduced transversely to the direction of the feed of the blocks, whereby to form laterally closed, rearwardly open, packings, which for the purpose of proceeding with a final folding operation are removed from the respective pushing dog by being moved further along in the direction of feed in order thus to bring them out of a swinging-down path of the pushing dogs at the end of the traverse of the endless feeding arrangement, and to transfer the cigarette blocks into the range of final folding members which perform the last rear folding in known manner. For the purpose of moving the blocks further along in the direction of feed, forward thrust rollers in segmental form have been used which accelerate the rearwardly open packings to the end of the feed path and thus remove them out of the range of the pushing dogs and transfer them into the range of the final folding members. With the increased speed requirements of modern high efliciency machines the use of forward thrust rollers causes difliculties however, since the forward thrusting action is based on a necessarily insecure frictional relationship between the forward thrust rollers and the packings, and, if the packing is to be removed with high speed from the respective pushing dog, segmental rollers of large diameter are necessary which are difiicult to construct. The use of quickly rotating friction rollers has the disadvantage that these rollers must have a segmental form the segment periphery of which must be equal to the length of the packing, as the rearwarclly open packing would be torn by complete non-segmental rollers. Also, the considerable wear of forward thrust rollers must be taken into account, such rollers wearing smooth after a short running time and thus changing their frictional and transporting characteristics.

It is an object of the invention to avoid these disadvantages of forward thrust rollers by rendering their use unnecessary and providing other means for moving the blocks further along in the direction of feed.

It is a further object if the invention to provide in and for a machine for packing block-like articles such as cigarette blocks, a combination comprising means defining a feed path for said articles, means pushing said articles successively along said feed path to the vicinity of a removal region thereof, means defining a suction chamber at said removal region, means for applying suction to said chamber for drawing said articles successively thereinto and means for successively removing said articles from said removal region.

It is yet another object of the invention to facilitate the removal of the block-like articles from the feed path.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a suction chamber for drawing cigarette blocks and the like block-like articles into the chamber, said suction chamber comprising two parts separable from each other in timed relationship to the operation of a packing machine for the cigarette and the like blocks.

ice

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of example and in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view, partly broken away, of a machine for packing cigarettes collected 1n blocks;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line III-III of FIG. 1, various parts being omitted for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the machine of FIG. 1, partly broken away;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified detail of the machine of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of part of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the machine part of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along the line lX-lX of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view along the line XX of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view along the line XIXI of FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a vacuum chamber unit, to a larger scale than that of FIGS. 1 to 11';

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to FIG. 6, but showing another operative position of the machine;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional View, similar to FIG. 6, but showing a further operative position of the machine;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine part of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to FIG. 6, but showing yet another operative position of the machine; and

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine part of FIG. 16.

The arrangement illustrated in the drawings and representing part of a cigarette packing machine comprises a frame which carries a base plate 4 surmounted by a cover 5 arranged parallel thereto. A plurality of pushing dogs 1 which are provided on bridges 2 extending between two conveyor chains 3 are turned over downwardly at the end of the path formed between the base plate 4 and the cover 5, by chain wheels 17 which are fixed to a shaft 13, the chains 3 of the endless chain arrangement being trained around the chain wheels 17 and around corresponding chain wheels (not shown) at the other end of the endless chain arrangement. The shaft 18 carries a chain wheel 24 by which it can be driven by a chain 51, the chain 51 being trained around the chain wheel 24 a chain wheel 52 fixed on a shaft 53 and a chain wheel 54 fixed on a shaft 55.

The shaft 55 carries a gear wheel 56 which meshes with a pinion 57 fixed on a shaft58. Shaft 58 is driven by a pulley 59 fixed thereon, the pulley 59 being driven by a V-belt 60 from an electric motor 61.

Above the cover 5, a supply container 63 for cut lengths of the metal foil is provided, the container 63 being carried on supports 64. A known feed system comprising feed rollers 65 and guide plates 66 is provided for individually feeding portions of foil from the container 63 to an abutment 67 mounted on the frame 50, the portion of foil 69 extending through slots 68 in the base plate 4 and cover 5.

The base plate 4 has a slot 33 extendingcontinuously therealong, through which the pushing dogs 1 extend, the slot 33 terminating in an opening 31 through which the pushing dogs 1 can pass when moving downwardly under the action of the chain wheels 17. Between the base plate 4 and the cover 5, two vertical walls 30 defining the width of the feed path for packing 32 are provided. Another base plate 6 which forms a continuation of the base plate 4 has no such slot 33. At the same height as the cover above the base plate 6, a cover 7 having a width equal to that of the packing is provided, the cover 7 being formed with a connection portion 16 providing a duct 36 by which a suction pump is connectable to a suction chamber formed by the cover 7 and by a movable suction chamber unit comprising side walls 29, an end wall 13 and a partial upper transverse wall 20 (see FIG. 12). The cover 7 has lateral lugs 35 which have the same spacings as the side walls 29 and form effective continuations of the suction chamber unit. The end wall 13 of the suction chamber unit serves simultaneously as an abutment in the feed direction.

The suction chamber unit has bearing lugs 12 on which links 27 of a parallelogram linkage are pivoted by one end thereof, the other ends of the links being pivoted to studs 9 of a double bearing 8 provided on the base plate 6. Levers 22 connected by a link rod 21 pivotedthereto on studs 11 complete the parallelogram linkage. This parallelogram linkage is operated by means of a lever arm 28 of one of the levers 22 and an operating rod 19 connected to the lever arms 22 at a pivot point 10. The operating rod 19 is movable in timed relation to the movement of the pushing dogs 1 by a rocking lever 71 pivotally connected to it, the rocking lever 71 'being rockably mounted on a shaft 72 and carrying rollers 73 which bear against earns 74 carried by the shaft '53 (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

Considered in the feed direction beyond the suction chamber, there is provided a cover 15 at the same height as the covers 5 and 7, and lateral guide rails 25 which terminate at the suction chamber. Feeding or folding members 26 are provided which are movable from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 4 into the position 26' shown in dash-dotted lines in FIG. 4, then into the position 26" shown in dash-dotted lines in FIG. 4 and then again into the position shown in full lines in FIG. 4. This movement of the folding members 26 is effected in v the following way:

their ends opposite the running faces 79 carry follower rollers 83 which cooperate with face cams 84 mounted on a shaft 85, the shaft 85 carrying a chain wheel 86 which is driven by a chain 87 from a chain wheel 88 carried on the shaft 53.

The slide 75 is movable to and fro in the direction of the arrows shown thereon in FIG. 4, by a lever 91 a fork end 92 of which engages a stud 93 on the slide 75. The lever 91 is fixed on a shaft 94 to which an arm 95 is also fixed. A link 96 is pivoted to the arm 95 and is itself pivoted to one end of a lever 97 which is fixed on a shaft 100 to a rocker lever 98 carrying rollers 99 which engage cams 101 fixed on the shaft 85. Another rocker lever 108 is provided which is fixed on the shaft 100. A lever 109 also fixed on the shaft 100 has a fork end which engages a stud 102 on an end block 103 fixed to one end of a roa 104. The rocker lever 108 has rollers 128 which coto the base plate 4 and a front wall 113 extending downwardly to just above the level of the cover 15 is provided, the front wall 113 being in the same vertical plane as the plane of movement of the folding blade 106. A lifting platform 114 is provided which is movable through the opening 107 from below, in order to lift packings from the feed path into the stack chute 111. The lifting platform 114 is mounted on a rod 115 which is sliclable in a bearing 116 and which at its lower end carries a block 117 to which a link 118 is pivoted. The link 118 is pivoted to a rocking lever 119 which is fixed on a shaft 120 and which carries rollers 121 which cooperate with cams 122 fixed on the shaft 53.

The manner of operation of the arrangement illustrated in the drawings is as follows:

A number of cigarettes grouped together in the form of a block 132 are fed to the feed path by known feeding means not shown, and are engaged end-on by one of the pushing dogs 1. At the same time a portion of wrapping foil 69 is fed to the abutment 67. As the cigarette block 132 is pushed against the foil 69 and past a vertical plane extending through the slots 68, the foil 69 is caused to envelop the cigarette block 132 on all sides except the side engaged by the pushing dog. The enveloped cigarette block, now indicated by reference numeral 32, is pushed further along the feed path by the pushing dog 1 until, shortly before the pushing dog 1 has reached the position at which it begins to move downwardly, the packing 32 has the position shown in full lines in FIG. 6.

The duct 36 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Consequently, as soon as the packing 32 is moving along the feed path has begun to enter between the cover 7 and the base plate 4 the vacuum condition in the suction chamber becomes effective and the packing 32 is quickly drawn away from the pushing dog 1 into the suction chamber, so as to lie against the end wall 13 of the suction chamber, that is to say into the position 32 shown in FIG. 6. At the same time, the pushing dog 1 has moved forwardly to the vicinity of the opening 31, as shown in FIG. 13.

As the packing enters the suction chamber, the opening between the chamber and the connection portion 16 is increasingly covered so that the suction effect on the packing progressively decreases, thus providing a retarding effect such that the packing comes to rest against the abutment end wall 13 without being damaged by impact thereagainst. Thereafter, the suction chamber is opened by raising the suction chamber unit comprising the side walls 29, the end wall 13 and the partial transverse wall 20. This is effected by the earns 74, the rocking lever 71 and the operating rod 19, the suction chamber unit being lifted by the action of the links 27 on the bearing lugs 12, the links 27 assuming a new position 27 and the lugs 12 assuming a raised position 12' as shown in dash-dotted lines in FIG. 6. The lifted position of the suction chamber unit can be seen from FIG. 14 and from this figure the movement of the pushing dog 1 through the opening 31 can also be seen, the downward path of the pushing dog 1 being shown in dash-dotted lines from an initial position 1'.

With the raising of the suction chamber unit, the end wall 13 thereof is removed from the feed path. The interally arranged folding members 26 now perform the previously described movement so that the ends of the wrapping foil at the narrow sides of the packing are inwardly folded. The folding members 26 are shown in their intermost position in FIG. 15, this corresponding to the position 26" of FIG. 4. When moving from their position 26" of FIG. 4, back into the position shown in full lines in FIG. 4 the folding members 26 simultaneously serve as feeding or transport members and accordingly push the packing 32 onto the lifting platform 114 and into abutting relation to the rear wall 112 of the stack chute 111, this position being shown in FIGS. 16 and 1;].

By means of the cams 101, the folding blade 106 is now moved upwardly through the opening 107 and upwardly folds the end of the wrapping foil at the lower side of the packing. Shortly thereafter, by means of the cams 122, the lifting platform 114 is raised so that the packing is lifted into the stack chute 111. On entry of the packing into the stack chute 111 the front wall 113 of the stack chute 111 engages the end region of the wrapping foil at upper side of the packing and folds this downwardly.

The cams and linkages controlling the abovedescribed operations are so phased in their movements that the various operations are effected in a suitably coordinated manner, the raising and lowering of the suction chamber unit effecting a periodic interruption of the suction action.

In a modified form of the arrangement, the folding members for folding the ends of the wrapping foil at the small sides of the packing and for transporting the packing to the stack chute are differently arranged. The modified arrangement is shown in FIG. 5. In this arrangement, plates 201 having closed guide channels 202 formed therein are provided at each side of the feed path. Feeding or folding members 203 are carried by chains 204 guided about chain wheels 205 and 206, the chain wheels 206 being driven by drive means 207 from a drive shaft 208. The folding members 203 carry follower rollers 210 which run in the guide channels 202, the arrangement of the guide channels 202 being such that the folding members 203 are caused to move in a path which is parallel to but is spaced apart from the feed path, when the folding members 203 are moved in a direction generally opposite to the feed direction, are then moved towards each other to perform their folding action, are then moved parallel to the feed path and in the feed direction so as to transport the packing to the stack chute and are then moved away from each other.

Although the transverse section of the opening between the suction chamber and the connection portion 16 is shown in the drawings as circular, it may alternatively be of any suitable shape. For example, an opening of trapezium shape may be advantageous for the braking of the packing, since the cross section is then reduced faster as the packing enters the suction chamber than is the case when the opening is circular.

I claim:

1. In and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, said path defining means being constructed and arranged for laterally enveloping said articles, a plurality of means for pushing said articles successively along said feed path to the vicinity of a removal region thereof, each pushing means having a face for hearing against one side of said articles, means defining at said removal region a suction chamber for successively drawing said articles away from said faces and to said removal region, means for applying suction to said suction chamber, means for periodically opening said suction chamber and means for succesively removing said articles from said removal region.

2. In and for a packing machine, the combination defined in claim 1, wherein said suction chamber includes a wall having an opening, said suction applying means communicating with said suction chamber through said opening, said opening being arranged and adapted to be gradually closed by an article when arriving in said suction chamber so as temporarily to interrupt the communication between said suction applying means and said suction chamber 3. In and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, means pushing said articles successively along said feed pat-h to the vicinity of a removel region thereof, means defining a suction chamber at said removal region, means for applying suction to said chamber for drawing said articles successively thereinto, means for successively removingsaid articles from said removal region, said pushing means including an endless feed chain a traverse of which is arranged parallel to said feed path and a plurality of pushing dogs attached to said chain, said suction chamber including a chamber unit having side walls constituting a continuation of said feed path and an end wall constituting an abutment for said articles when in said removal region, and a linkage connected to said chamber unit mounting the same for vertical movement relative to said feed path to such an extent that the abutment frees the article for further movement in the feed path by the removing means, said removing means comprising feed members for removing said articles from said removal region when said chamber unit is raised above said feed path by said linkage.

4. In and for a packing machine, the combination defined in claim 3, and comprising a slide, and a guide rod, said slide being movable on said guide rod, said feeding members of said removing means being pivotally mounted on said slide 5. In and for a packing machine, the combination defined in claim 3, and comprising plates having closed guide channels therein, chains carrying said feeding members of said removing means, follower rollers carried by said feeding members and running in said guide channels for controlling movement of said feeding members when imparted thereto by said chains.

6. In and for a packing machine, the combination defined in claim 3, wherein said linkage is a parallelogram linkage.

7. In and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, means for supplying wrapping material to said articles, means for enveloping each block-like article with wrapping material at five sides of said article whereas the sixth side remains temporarily open, means for acting on said sixth side of said article to feed the same to a suction chamber, means for applying suction to said chamber whereby to remove said article from said acting means and to suck said article into said suction chamber, means for elevating at least a portion of said suction chamber, means for removing said article from the region of said suction chamber and for enveloping said sixth side of said article, and means for timing the elevating of said suction chamber and the operation of said removing means in dependence on the operation of the packing machine.

8. In .and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, means pushing said articles successively along said feed path to the vicinity of a removal region thereof, means defining a suction chamber at said removal region, means for applying suction to said chamber for drawing said articles successively thereinto, means for successively removing said articles from said removal region, said pushing means including .an endless feed chain a traverse of which is arranged parallel to said feed path and a plurality of pushing dogs attached to said chain, said suction chamber including a chamber unit having side walls constituting a continuation of said feed path and an end wall constituting an abutment for said articles when in said removal region, and a linkage connected to said chamber unit mounting the same for vertical movement relative to said feed path, said removing means comprising feeding members for removing said articles from said removal region when said chamber unit is raised above said feed path by said linkage.

9. In and for a packing machine, the combination according to claim 8, wherein said linkage is a parallelogram linkage.

10. In and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, said path defining means being constructed and arranged for laterally enveloping said articles,

a plurality of means for pushing said articles successively along said feed path to the vicinity of a removal region thereof, each pushing means having a face for bearing against one side of said articles, means defining a suction chamber at said removal region, means for applying suction to said suction chamber for successively drawing said articles away from said faces into said suction chamber, and means for successively removing said articles from said removal region, wherein said feed path has an opening in said vicinity of the removal region for successively passing said pushing means through said opening, the latter being adapted to be closed by an article when adjacent said opening, whereby to allow a reduced air pressure to be created in said suction chamber 11. In and for a machine for packing block-like articles, the combination of means defining a feed path for said articles, said path defining means being constructed and arranged for laterally enveloping said articles, a plurality of means for pushing said articles successively along said feed path to the vicinity of a removal region thereof, each pushing means having a face for bearing against one side of said articles, means defining a suction chamber at said removal region, means for applying suction to said suction chamber for successively drawing said articles away from said faces into said suction chamber, and means for successively removing said articles from said removal region, wherein said suction chamber includes a wall having an opening, said suction applying means communicating with said suction chamber through said opening, the latter being adapted to be gradually closed by an article when arriving in said suction chamber so as temporarily to interrupt the communication between said suction applying means and said suction chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,308,321 10/15 Armstrong 53231 X 2,098,245 11/37 Jackson 53233 2,988,402 6/61 Policansky 302-2 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,200,392 12/ 5 9 France.

FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Examiner. 

7. IN AN FOR A MACHINE FOR PACKING BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLES, THE COMBINATION OF MEANS DEFINING A FEED PATH FOR SAID ARTICLES, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING WRAPPING MATERIAL TO SAID ARTICLES, MEANS FOR ENVELOPING EACH BLOCK-LIKE ARTICLE WITH WRAPPING MATERIAL AT FIVE SIDES OF SID ARTICLE WHEREAS THE SIXTH SIDE REMAINS TEMPORARILY OPEN, MEANS FOR ACTING ON SAID SIXTH SIDE OF SAID ARTICLE TO FEED THE SAME TO A SUCTION CHAMBER, MEANS FOR APPLYING SUCTION TO SAID CHAMBER WHEREBY TO REMOVE SAID ARTICLE FROM SAID ACTING MEANS AND TO SUCK SAID ARTICLE INTO SAID SUCTION CHAMBER, MEANS FOR ELEVATING AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID SUCTION CHAMBER, MEANS FOR REMOVING SAID ARTICLE FROM THE REGION OF SAID SUCTION CHAMBER AND FOR ENVELOPING SAID SIXTH SIDE OF SAID ARTICLE, AND MEANS FOR TIMING THE ELEVATING OF SAID SUCTION CHAMBER AND THE OPERATION OF SAID REMOVING MEANS IN DEPENDENCE ON THE OPERATION OF THE PACKING MACHINE. 